Paediatric dental emergencies: a retrospective study and a proposal for definition and guidelines including pain management

Eur Arch Paediatr Dent. 2018 Aug;19(4):245-253. doi: 10.1007/s40368-018-0353-9. Epub 2018 Jun 13.

Abstract

Aim: This was primarily to perform a retrospective analysis of 1000 emergency dental visits in order to characterize the nature of the dental emergency and the treatment provided and secondly to define a guideline for dental emergency treatment in children including pain management.

Materials and methods: A retrospective review was conducted of 1000 patients (aged 0-16 years) who visited the dental emergency service of the paediatric dental clinic at the Ghent University Hospital, Belgium over a period of 3 years. Data regarding age, gender, reason for visit, year of visit, consequent appointments and treatment provided were collected. Statistical analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics (frequency distribution) and Chi-square test, with significance level set as P < 0.05.

Results: The number of patients visiting with a dental emergency increased annually. Approximately half (50.2%) of all paediatric dental emergency consultations were based on pain due to caries and its consequences. More than a quartile (26.7%) of emergency patients suffered from dental trauma of either primar or permanent teeth. The majority (96.7%) of the patients reported pain, 16.3% of the patients did not necessarily need immediate attention.

Conclusion: Dental emergencies in a university hospital based setting were predominantly related to caries and trauma. A precise definition of dental emergencies is recommended in order to prevent abuse of paediatric emergency services.

Keywords: Children; Emergency; Pain management.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Age Distribution
  • Belgium
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Dental Care for Children
  • Dental Caries / complications
  • Dental Caries / epidemiology*
  • Dental Caries / therapy
  • Dental Service, Hospital
  • Emergencies / epidemiology*
  • Emergency Treatment
  • Female
  • Hospitals, University
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Pain Management* / statistics & numerical data
  • Practice Guidelines as Topic
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Tooth Injuries / epidemiology*
  • Tooth Injuries / therapy
  • Toothache / epidemiology
  • Toothache / etiology
  • Toothache / therapy